Harrogate triathlete nominates personal trainer for national award

Harrogate’s Alex Le Bek nominated keep-fit former military man, Jimmy Profitt for the National Fitness Award - Gym based personal trainer of the year.

Jimmy is now in the running to win after being short listed along with seven others for the final at the National Space Centre in Leicester on December 4 this year.

Alex Le Bek said: “I nominated Jimmy because he has given me a life changing experience in fitness.

“He has been my personal trainer for the last three years.

“I was one very unfit forty eight year old female and am now I am a fifty one year old triathlete, who competed this year for team GB in both Geneva and Chicago.”

In July this year Alex competed with the Great British triathalon team in Geneva and qualified for the World Age-Group Championships in Chicago where she finished second out of 17 in the UK and 17th out of 77 in her age group.

Jimmy and Alex met when she attended one of his outdoor training sessions on The Stray as part of Jimmy’s personal training business, Military 1st Fitness.

He said: “Alex’s dedication to her sport is quite remarkable. Failure is not an option. Her confidence and self-belief have grown tremendously during our personal training.”

Jimmy spent more than two decades in the military, during which he served in Northern Ireland and lived all over the world, but primarily he was in charge of training the troops.

He said: “I spent 25 years in the British army 12 years of which were in the Royal Training Corps. I had to get them to optimum fitness to go to Afghanistan and Iraq, it was getting them ready to deploy.”

As part of the nomination, Jimmy’s clients submitted testimonials to show how much he had helped them turn their fitness around.

Now Jimmy, who is also a co-owner of Pannal’s Performax Gym, will have an interview with the competition judges on October 20 to determine his fate before the awards ceremony.

Mr Profitt said: “It was totally surreal if the truth be known, it was a really nice feeling. I think just this nomination is quite an achievement in itself.”